police say the couple poisoned by a nerve agent in wiltshire fell ill after touching a contaminated item. dawn sturgess and charlie rowley are critically ill after being poisoned by novichok — the same type used on the former russian spy sergei skripal. dawn sturgess was caught on camera in salisbury last friday — the day before she collapsed. the home secretary has pointed the finger at russia. it is completely unacceptable for our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets, or for our streets, our parks, our towns to be dumping grounds for poison. it's still not clear where the couple were when they came into contact with the novichok. we'll have the latest from the scene. eurosceptic minsiters meet to talk tactics as theresa may faces a cabinet showdown over brexit at chequers tomorrow. pumping out water gets rescuers closer to the trapped children in thailand but they still can't get them out. going underground in eastern ghouta. jeremy bowen discovers the hidden tunnels below what was once a rebel stronghold in the syrian war.

and gareth southgate on why england's young lions may never have a better chance to make it to a world cup final. in wales: celebrations, including a royal visit, to mark the 70th birthday of the nhs. but what does the future hold for the service? warnings it may not reach its 100 birthday unless there are radical changes. good evening. police say the couple who are fighting for their lives after being exposed to a nerve agent in wiltshire fell ill after touching a contaminated item. dawn sturgess and charlie rowley have been poisoned by novichok — the same nerve agent used on the former russian spy, sergei skripal and his daughter in march. the home secretary, sajid javid, has once again pointed the finger at russia and said that britain must

not be used as a dumping ground for poision. public health england says the risk to the public remains low. june kelly reports. this is dawn sturgess and is still in salisbury last friday seen on cctv buying drinks. 2a hours later she was in intensive care. she and charlie rowley fell ill within hours of each other and both remain critical in hospital. like all their family members, the brother of charlie rowley is hoping for some positive news. here's my younger brother. i love him to bits. i don't wa nt brother. i love him to bits. i don't want anything to happen to him. and yet it has. how would you deal with it? you know? it is heartbreaking. the couple became contaminated when

they handled the poisoning, according to scotland yard, which is heading this investigation. counterterrorism officers are working with the local wiltshire force. for months on from the skripal poisoning, police are trying once again to reassure the public. 0ur once again to reassure the public. our top priority now and always will be the safety of everybody across oui’ be the safety of everybody across our communities. to that end, people in amesbury cancels we will see a significant increase in the amount of police officers and resources that we have here available. -- and salisbury. charlie rowley was at this church event in the hours before he collapsed. he looked out of sorts. you could sense something was not right. 0ne of sorts. you could sense something was not right. one would have assumed it was possibly alcohol. we do not know the shore. this footage shows him being taken into salisbury district hospital. dawn sturgess had already been admitted, as a friend who did not want to appear on screen, described. dawn is a happy

and loving person. she looks after everybody, really. ican and loving person. she looks after everybody, really. i can sit here and talk. dawn and charlie are in hospital, potentially fighting for their lives. in wiltshire, a number of locations where they believe the couple were before they collapsed are now cordoned off. they fell ill at the flat of charlie rowley in amesbury will stop the baptist centre is closed as well, as is a local branch of boots the chemist. so has the queen elizabeth gardens in the city. the gardens are close to the maltings shopping centre. and a bench where sergei skripal and yulia skripal were found collapsed. the hospital fighting to save these

victims. this is an expanding police investigation. the biggest questions are where and how where this couple poisoned. police and public health officials are stressing this contamination could not have happened at one of the sites in the skripal investigation because they say they we re investigation because they say they were properly decontaminated. there is massive concern among the public when they see all these areas cordoned off. that is why there is immense pressure on officers to get ha rd facts immense pressure on officers to get hard facts out on this as quickly as possible. so, it's still very unclear where the couple were when they came into contact with the nerve agent, novichok, last weekened. 0ur security correspondent, gordon corera, looks at the many questions facing the investigation. two nerve agent poisonings, close to each other, and just months apart. so, are they connected? there are still more questions than answers, so, what do we know? scientific analysis here at porton

down laboratories is said to have confirmed that both incidents involved exactly the same type of the novichok nerve agent. so far it cannot be proven they were from the same batch. the skripals believed to have been poisoned after novichok was placed on the mantle of their front door. sites they visited afterwards were decontaminated. —— on the handle. police are left with one primary theory, that dawn stu rg ess one primary theory, that dawn sturgess and one primary theory, that dawn stu rgess and charles one primary theory, that dawn sturgess and charles rowley handled something that had been dumped by the attackers back in march. that could be some kind of container, in which the nerve agent was held. 0ne possibility is they came across something in the park they visited a mile from the home of sergei skripal. would novichok still be dangerous for months on question one expert said it could be. it does not

surprise me they are still in the environment for months after use. work i did showed the presence of agents for years after it had been useful to it might just agents for years after it had been useful to it mightjust residual contamination or something might have been in a container and that is what was discarded. an emergency committee met today of the government. there were suggestions it could have been a case of novichok left over from the attack on the skripals. it is completely unacceptable for our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets, orfor our either deliberate or accidental targets, or for our streets, either deliberate or accidental targets, orfor our streets, our parks, our towns, to be dumping grounds for poison. doubt was cast on britain's claims. we call on the government of theresa may to stop its intrigues and games with chemical agents and stop obstructing a joint investigation. today, the rented teams up urgently searching for the source of the latest

contamination. —— forensics teams. until they find that, they cannot be sure how it came about. and that answer could also provide a significant new lead in the investigation into the skripal poisoning as well as that in amesbury, and help explain what any connections between those two events might be. sophie. several eurosceptic ministers have been meeting at the foreign office this evening, ahead of tomorrow's crucial cabinet summit at chequers — the prime minister's country residence. theresa may is expected to seek approval for a new strategy on the uk's future customs relationship with european union. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, has the latest. brexit secretary, are you happy with the plan? relaxed. have you been stitched up with this plan? not so much. number 10's next steps on brexit are not to the taste of brexiteers bulldog is as bad as they say? have you been stitched up over

this plan? a much closer connection to the eu after we leave than they hoped. a slow motion clash between them and ministers like the chancellor who are pushing for tight ties has been under way for months. the prime minister desperately hope she can pull them together tomorrow and is already trying to sell the plan abroad. tomorrow i will be bringing my cabinet together to discuss and decide a substantial way forward. it is very important what the uk decides in the next few days, said angela merkel. who theresa may needs as well as her cabinet. different kind of negotiation was going on at home. whether the ta keaway world/ going on at home. whether the takeaway world/ boris johnson or not, he was tucked away with other collea g u es not, he was tucked away with other colleagues who backed leaving the eu, alarmed at the full proposals that number 10 only shared this afternoon. rather than getting ready to rally round the p:m., seven

brexit cabinet ministers have been gathering here at the foreign 0ffice, discussing their tactics and how they plan to push back. for true brexit believers, there is nothing to celebrate. the plan that would see the uk sign up to a common rule book with the eu we are hardly leaving at all. it is not really brexit. brexit is a wonderfully exciting opportunity for this nation to break away from the failed economic model of the european union. it has been a busy night in downing street. the editor of the sun newspaper popped in for his own chat. it will be a long, long day tomorrow. a brave prediction tonight from the man whose job it is to keep the tories in order. are you confident of success? the prime minister will have a great day. good day, perhaps? a difficult one of almost certainly. theresa may is hurtling towards

defining day. tomorrow is decision times for the cabinet and decision times for the cabinet and decision time for the brexiteers. how hard do they fight for their vision of life after the european union of a more dramatic separation between the uk and the rest of the continent? it is decision times as well for theresa may. if that brexiteer fashion pick up may. if that brexiteer fashion pick up rough, does she tried to take the more perhaps show them the door? this has been going on for so many months, tomorrow could be a defining day. it is about getting the cabinet on board. this parliament with the tory party and a whole continent to worry about as well. 0ur europe editor, katya adler, is in berlin where, as we've heard, the prime minister met the german chancellor earlier today. katya. well, yes, in the midst of a political miles from at home, the prime minister came here to berlin. she came to see what is still the

eu's most influential leader, angela merkel. she came with a plea that she and others in the eu did not rush to criticise her new brexit negotiation plan. as we have seen she has had enough trouble keeping her own cabinet on board but if the eu comes forward immediately with objections it will weaken her hand. angela merkel is sympathetic. she knows a thing or two about domestic, political problems. and you said again today that she wants to keep the uk close after brexit. she and other eu leaders will not come forward efficiently with their views on the details of theresa may's plan until has been agreed by the cabinet and then cast on to brussels. i have to say, and officially and privately tonight, i have already been made aware of a fair few european criticisms. the main eu questions will be, does this plan help to solve the irish border conundrum? does it give the uk and unfair

advantage over other eu countries? does it follow eu rules quest to brussels likes to say it does not dismiss uk negotiating proposals out of hand, it asks questions and then lets uk government come to its own conclusions. a 16—year—old boy has been charged in connection with the death of a six—year—old girl on the isle of bute. alesha macphail‘s body was found in woodland on monday morning. she'd been reported missing from grandmother's house. the boy will appear in court tomorrow. there's still no decision on how to rescue 12 boys and their football coach, who've been trapped in a flooded cave for almost two weeks now. the children were found on a rocky ledge around 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave on monday. more than 128 million litres of water has been pumped out of the cave — allowing rescue teams to walk further into the tunnel. but some parts are too narrow, and more heavy rain is forecast. the boys are being taught the basics of diving. some need to be taught how to swim, but it's feared that option could be too risky. jonathan head is there. how long will they stay down there?

the boys are now getting care and food, but the thai authorities are still debating whether to risk bringing them out quickly, or waiting — possibly for months. dozens of volunteers are helping the navy divers. this is an exhausting and sometimes dangerous operation. this television actor is one of them. "water is the main obstacle," he says. "if we can get the water level down, the boys can be brought out." but while a massive pumping effort is reducing it in the first section of caves, it's having less effect deeper in, where the boys are trapped. so the thai army has been taking equipment to the other end of the mountains to try to lower the water table here, closer to their location.

they have a number of ideas they want to try. but their first effort has been to divert the streams which feed the underground pools. we followed them up, along pipes that had been laid just in the past few days. this creek has completely dried up. a week ago it was filled with water. so you can see that this project, with all these pipes, is definitely having an impact. higher up, we were shown a newly built dam. work like this is now going on all over these mountains. no one is sure yet how much they can bring down the water that is blocking the boys' escape, or whether they'll win the battle against the imminent monsoon rain. they just know that they have to try. jonathan head, bbc news, tham luang caves, northern thailand. the national health service is celebrating its 70th birthday today.

it was created on july 5th, 1948, and since then the nhs has grown to become the world's largest publicly—funded health service, employing 1.5 million people. staff at this hospital in manchester joined the 70th celebrations with patients — some of them life—long users of the service. a more formal commemoration took place at westminster abbey, with a recognition of the central role the nhs plays in all our lives. in scotland, the first minister was marking the ceremony with a visit to a children's hospital in glasgow. and a royal visit from the prince in wales, who met with patients at the hospital named after aneurin bevin, widely seen as the father of the nhs. it's looking increasingly likely that interest rates will rise next month, after the bank of england governor said he has more confidence in the uk economy. mark carney says household spending had "bounced back strongly" after a slump in growth caused

by the bad winter weather. 0ur economics editor, kamal ahmed, reports. i am delighted to welcome to the stage, the governor of the bank of england, mark carney. in good spirits, the governor with a more upbeat message on the economy. the data since may have given me greater confidence that the softness in uk activity in the first quarter was largely due to the weather, not the climate. a number of indicators of household spending and sentiment have bounced back strongly. governor, given the bounce back in the economy that you've outlined today, should people be preparing themselves for an interest rate rise sooner rather than later, and certainly this year? i would say 75% survey evidence of households think that interest rates are going to rise over the course of the next year. their expectations are that interest rates will go up a bit, but not that much. he knows that brexit is weighing on economic confidence and his audience

knows it, too. yvonne gayle invests in local firms — many of which export to the eu. if we want a boosted, growing economy, we do actually need a little bit more ambition and a willingness to take on risks. and, the problem with the whole brexit question and where we're going to end up, is it suppresses people's appetite to take risks. bigger companies are facing similar challenges. jaguar land rover warning today that possible trade barriers with the eu could cost it over £1 billion a year. today, the government was trying to reassure. that requires the ability to avoid frictions at the border when parts come backwards and forwards, to make sure that we can export to other european union countries without tariffs and without frictions. the message from newcastle — business wants to be listened to, and wants answers to this key question. how close will britain and the eu be after brexit?

the answer could well be very close indeed. kamal ahmed, bbc news. in southern syria, government forces, helped by the russians, are continuing to push ahead as they try to recapture territory from the rebels. the shelling and bombing has forced up to 325,000 civilians from their homes, according to the un refugee agency. it's one of the last rebel strongholds in syria, and government forces have been spurred on after defeating the rebels in eastern ghouta on the outskirts of damascus earlier this year. 0ur middle east editorjeremy bowen has been back to find out what's happened to the people who lived there. time has passed. seven dark years. the war isn't over, but it's changing. in the spring the regime won the battle of damascus, smashing the last rebel enclaves. for the war weary, it's a kind of peace. the great souks in the old city survived, unlike the suburbs,

where the fight for damascus was lost and won. this is douma in eastern ghouta, the last major rebel enclave to fall. even the graveyard is in ruins, hit by shells. the firepower of the syrian army and its russian allies was overwhelming. the heavy guns have been moved to other battlefields. no one shoots now when you walk past the empty ruins. life never stopped here, but now they can live it in the sun. when the war was being fought they retreated underground into cellars and a network of tunnels. they were built to last by skilled engineers. the regime says prisoners of the rebels were forced to do the digging. some tunnels are wide

enough for vehicles. one area, used as a car park, was burnt out in the last days of the siege. in this section the system goes down four levels into deep concrete basements. there are jail cells, and close by the command centre forjaysh al—islam, which was the dominant rebel group. the commanders down in this bunker thought that they were going to win and for a while it looked as if it might happen. but in 2015 the russians intervened and since then everything has changed. president assad and his generals, who have been ostracised by the western world, by the saudis and others, are now heading closer to victory. with the guns quiet, grandparents were checking their home in douma's

wasteland for the first time in six years. it was even worse than they had thought. it wasn't just their flat or the block — the entire neighbourhood was gone. around 12 million people, half syria's prewar population, have fled their homes. translation: it's happened to everyone, notjust us. we've lost everything we've ever worked for. the apartment was all we had. translation: it's god's will, god protect the soldiers and the president. everything is much better now. thousands of eastern ghouta's people, some from the losing side, are in camps without even ruins to visit. some of the men said this camp was a prison, because they're not allowed

out to work. people were desperate to talk, despite our usual military and civilian minders. they were frantic about 100 men who'd been taken away six days earlier. we arrived at this place only about 20 minutes ago and there are lines of people queueing up to tell their stories, and they are similar stories. they are stories about family members going missing, men being taken, and women being very worried about the state they may be in now. translation: we are here under international guarantee. they say the young men are fine, but where are they? we need to know. we came out of one siege to land in another. 0ne mother claimed her 15—year—old son and husband had been taken. the authorities denied that and said the missing men included killers and others on the run

from army service. translation: they took my son, left his wife and child and me. we want bashar al—assad to give our young men amnesties. ismail haidar was killed in 2012 when he was 21. his father says he forgives his killers. ali haidar, bereaved father, is also minister of reconciliation. he says only forgiveness will heal syria, but he accepts some people in the camps fear the state. translation: i understand that the families of the young men who were taken to detention centres to fix their problems are scared, because of those human rights reports. we know they've written to put pressure on the syrian government, like the chemical weapons file, even if they're wrong. the war blew through douma for six years.

it's moved on while the president and his allies deal with their remaining enemies. douma is just one fragment of the wreckage of syria. it might be too late to put this country back together. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. the nhs in england is promising to put an extra £22 million into helping people with learning disabilities get out of institutions and receive support in the community instead. a recent review found people with learning disabilities can die up to 29 years earlier than other people. nikki fox reports.? this is james, happy on a night out. he has a learning disability and usually lives at home with his mum. fran works tirelessly, planning james's care, and employs a number of support workers.

but he recently hit crisis point and has been admitted to an institution. as a result, the funding that enables him to live at home has been stopped, and fran says she may have to lay off his entire team. i'm terrified that i'm not going to have any staff when he comes home and it will delay his discharge. the system doesn't work when he goes to hospital. fran's concerned her son might end up as another statistic. currently there are more than 2,300 people with learning disabilities in institutions. today, nhs england is putting £22.2 million of new money into a programme designed to get people out. and £53 million is being moved from inpatient services to community support. is that not a drop in the ocean? so the additional money we are investing will grow to be more if local councils and local nhs bodies help more people to live at home. if we are going to make this work, then we need to move the money that we currently too often spend

in inpatient settings, and help people to spend it with and in their local communities. it's notjust about getting people out of institutions. it's making sure they get proper medical care across the nhs. here at salford uni, student nurses are being assessed on how best to look after patients. they are using people with learning disabilities as actors, but abby has had her own real—life experience. we couldn't believe the way the nurses and doctors treated me. i wanted the younger students to listen more to what i have been through. and when other patients do come in with a learning disability, listen to them. specialist nurses like these are crucial to ensure people with learning disabilities get proper hospital care. since 2010, the numbers have dropped by nearly a0%. and many see this as an example that not enough is being done. the national audit office estimates that up to £195 million a year

is needed to pay for health and social care in the community. but what families want is progress, and the right for their loved ones to live independently with the right support. nikki fox, bbc news. two days to go until england take on sweden in the quarter—finals of the world cup — and the pressure is really on the young team. as they get ready in their base at repina, manager gareth southgate says his squad might not have this good an opportunity to reach a world cup final again. he's been speaking to our sports editor, dan roan. he's the man who's put some pride back into english football. ever since arriving here in russia, gareth southgate's mantra has been the same — take one game at a time. but having masterminded his side's progress to the last eight of the tournament, the manager today told me such a chance to go all the way may never come again. you're two wins away from the biggest stage that football can offer. is now the time to change your message to them, and say, "it's on"?

now would be a dangerous time to change what we've been doing, and what's been working. equally, it's a great opportunity for us, and, although our team will be individually better in two years, and with more life experiences, maybe the cards on injuries and things don't fall as kindly as they have this time, and we might not have this opportunity again. commentator: oh no! as an england player, southgate suffered extreme lows, even marketed as a man who made mistakes. thanks a lot, boys, i feel much better now. oh, this time he's hit the post! but no one's laughing now, with the manager suddenly firmly in fashion. there's songs, waistcoat sales going through the roof, they're even calling for you to lead the negotiations on brexit. how does it feel to know that there's been a shift in perception? i think it's dangerous territory, for me, if i start to get carried away with things. iam asiam.

the key here is to do as good a job as we can. but southgate does acknowledge the effect his young team's success is having back home. football — sport — but football, in particular, can really bring connection for a country, and it feels, from what we're being told, and the little bits that we're seeing, that that is the case, so i'm delighted that we're exciting people. southgate's emphasis has always been on the collective, but as his players prepare for the game of their lives against sweden on saturday, his leadership has emerged as critical to england's success. dan roan, bbc news, repino. tennis now, and britain's number one, johanna konta — last year's semi—finalist — crashed out of wimbledon this afternoon, meaning kyle edmund is the only british player left in the singles tournament. joe wilson has been watching all the action at sw19.